My blog is late this week because I just returned from San Antonio (SATX) late last night.
I took a week to visit friends, eat my way thru the city and spend some time doing the job that actually pays me (believe it or not – no one pays me to write this blog – I do it for fun – hehe). The fun thing was hanging out with my friends and returning to the places I frequented when I lived there. I skipped the Alamo because I had been there numerous times and I know there is no basement where Pee Wee’s bike could be hidden.
Sometimes when you are away from a place for a while, you romanticize the experiences and foods that made it so special. Either because you had a good time or because you were with dear friends, you mis-remember the experience. I was really afraid that would happen on this trip. Thankfully that was only true for ONE of the places I visited. On the whole, everything was just as good as I remembered. (Moment of truth – I don’t think I ate any veggies while I was gone except for a salad…)
As soon as I got off the plane and retrieved my rental car I went straight to Lulu’s. They make the best chicken fried steak. Light and crispy on the outside (breaded on premises, the cubed steak does not arrive frozen and pre-breaded), moist and tender on the inside. The biggest failing here? The sides don’t live up to the standard of the steak. And of course this is the home of the 3lb cinnamon rolls (I avoided that too). And the fried food didn’t stop there…I pretty much ate everything fried I could get my hands on. I’d lay even odds that Texas has one of the highest heart attack rates in the country!
Oh the joy of freshly breaded and fried Chicken Fried Steak!
If you have never been to SATX – all I can say is that it is against the law to go there and NOT eat Mexican food! There are SO many great family owned places that it is tough to choose. I went to 2 different ones and had enchiladas at both and was deliriously happy both times. One of the COOLEST things about Mexican food in SATX is that all self respecting places make their own tortillas! They all make their own flour tortillas and some even make their own corn tortillas well. And don’t even get me started on tamales. I found it best for my waistline to NOT seek them out on this trip…just sayin’ (but for the record my faves are Delicious Tamales on Nacogdoches).
Shrimp Enchiladas, rice only, no beans
The biggest disappointment was Shilo’s. It is a downtown SATX institution, on street level above the River Walk, and I remembered it being SO much better. It is a German Deli. Yes, the center part of Texas was settled by Germans, so in addition to great Mexican food, you can also get fantastic German food – especially in New Braunfels, but apparently not at Shilo’s anymore. The only things that were good were the JUGS being together for lunch, the pickles and the house made root beer.
The counter at Shilo’s – always packed and always with a barrel of root beer
And speaking of beer…if you are a fan of Shiner Bock, I am about to make you totally jealous! They have a new beer called Wild Hare Pale Ale – with the slogan “hop to it”. Cute right? Tasty, but not as hoppy as I like, but still infinitely drinkable. So far as I know it is only available in Texas at this time.
The icing on the cake was going to HEB Central Market. It puts Whole Foods to shame in a MAJOR way. I know I am paying more than a regular grocery store, but I don’t feel like I have to give a pint of blood or give up my first born when I am shopping there. Don’t bother looking for an HEB grocery unless you live in Texas, they are isolated to the Lone Star State, and IMHO, one of the best grocery chains in the country. Needless to say, I couldn’t bring a whole lot home because I was flying, but I did pick up some coffee for John, handmade soap from Austin, and dark chocolate covered chipotle almonds. Had I means to bring perishables back, I would have come home with sausages, cheeses, chorizo and a bunch of other great stuff. Maybe next time….
So here is the tally for the week:
Chicken Fried Steak – 1
Mexican – 2
Italian – 2
Cajun – 1
Deli – 1
British Pub – 1
My Food Memories from this past week are mostly outlined above, but of special note are lunch and dinner with my JUGS, drinking beer on the porch with buddies Mary and Al (thanks for hosting me), cooking with my sales TEAM, and reacquainting myself with friend Marsha at Pappadeaux.
Marsha and I dining at the bar at Pappadeaux
Fried crawfish and crawfish etoufee with dirty rice, preceded by crawfish bisque – it was a “mudbug fest”! Of course I started eating before I took the pic!
Until next time – go out and make your OWN Food Memories
